Google further revamps Buzz privacy settings

Admits it "did not get everything right".

Google has asked users of its Buzz social network to confirm or change their privacy settings to disclose aspects of their profile.

When users log in, they will be presented with a page that highlights their current Buzz settings, and allows them to view and edit the people that they are following and the people following them.

They will also be able to elect whether they want those lists appearing on their public Google profile, and modify any of the sites that they have connected to Google Buzz – such as Picasa, Google Reader or Twitter.

Todd Jackson, product manager at Google Buzz, admitted that it "did not get everything right" when Buzz was first launched, as detailed by heavy user criticism which it corrected several days later. He said that a number of changes to the ‘getting started experience' has been made based on user feedback, the most significant of which was replacing auto-following with suggestions for people to follow.

He said: “Rather than automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with most, Google Buzz now suggests people for you to follow instead. This way, Buzz is still simple to set up (no one wants to peck out an entire social network from scratch) but you aren't set up to follow anyone until you choose to do so.

“But many of you started using Google Buzz before we made these changes, and we want to help you ensure that Buzz is set up the way you want. Offering everyone who uses our products transparency and control is very important to us.”

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